Heel



Oct. 7, 1930. R s MEGATHUN 1,777,471

HEEL

Filed Jan. 2'?, 1927 /A/l/E/v TUR Patented Oct. .7, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RALPH S. MEGATHLIN, OIF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, `.ASSIGNOB TO UNITED vSHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW HEEL ' application mea sammy 27, i927. serial no. 163,995.

This invention relates to heels, of the t pe exemplified by wood heels, which are attac ed to shoes with their peripheral portions` iii directengagement and contacting ,with the counter portions of the uppersI of the shoes to which they are attached.

In the manufacture of shoes to which wood hels are to be attached, it is usual to trim the surplus material from the heel portion of the sole of each shoe, at the Sametime beveling f the sole, so that when the heel is at tached its peripheral portion engages directly against the shoe upper and conceals the edge of the sole. .This trimming and beveling of the heel-sea'portion of the sole is commonly spoken-of as heel-seat tting. It is desirable thatA the heel-seat fitting operation should be performed in such a manner as to insure that the heel-'seat portion of the shoe shall engage as large a portion as is practicable of the attaching face of the heel, at the same time ermitti'ngth'e edge of the heel to come Iinto c ose engagement with the material of the counter ortion of the shoe upper so that a tight edge joint results. Of recent years there has been -a grea't deal of study and investigation in attem ts to improve the attachment of woed hee s to shoes so as to obtain a more solid construction with an edge joint which will not only be tight when the shoe is new but willl remain tight after 'the shoe has been worn. As an aid in obtaining construction and tight edge Joint, I have 1nvented the novel heel of this application.

Wood heelsl as heretofore made have had an attaching'surface of approximately uniform curvature in transverse section4 from A one edge of the heel to the other, the edge between the attaching surface. and the ripheral oi'- contour surface of the heel being rather sharp. I have found that a much more solid constructiony of the heel-seat of a shoe having a wood heel can be obtained if the attaching surface of the heel is previded with a flat central portion corres onding in area' f and form approximately to t e portion of the tread surface ofthe sole which remains-at the heel-seat inside the bevel after the heel-seat ttin operation, this flat surface being surro'un ed at both sides and the-rear of the heel such a. solid shoe upper, thus strengthening the shoe, and `in no way interferes with, the obtaining or retaining of'a tight edge joint which is preferablyfinsured by upwardly and outwardly inclimng, relatively to the heel, thewide upper engaging surface of the rim.

Wit the above and other objects and features in view the invention will nowbe described with referenee to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,v

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wood heel embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section, on an enlarged scale, of the portion of this heel adjacent to the attaching surface;

Fig. 3 isgadperspective view of a shoe, to whic a woo heel is to be attached, after the performance of the heel-seat fitting operation; v l

Fi 4 is a transverse section on the line IV V of Fig. 3;

Fi 5 is a perspective vie'w of a die for molding or formin the heel-seat of a shoe Vafter the heel-sieat ting operation and prev5 during the heel-seat molding operation;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section through the same sh'oe after the performance of the hee1` seat fitting operation ,and with al wood heel such as that. of Fig. 1 placed'lightly on the heel-seat of the shoe but not attached thereto and e Fig. 8 is a transverse section through the .heel-seat portion of the shoe with a wood heel such as that of Fig. 1 attached thereto.

Wood heels embodying the present invention ma be of whatever style is referred,

' Fig. 1 il ustratin a Cuban heel. T e attaching surface of t e heel is provided with a ilat central portion 6 extending rearwardly from the breast of the heel, surrounded by (at both sides and the rear) and merging into a curved peripheral ly toward the rim 1g of the heel. As illustrated, the rim 10 is about one tenth (.1) of an inch wide and is sli htly inclined .upwardly from the edge o? the concave portion toward the edge of the heel.

Fig. 3 illustrates a shoe to which a wood heel is to be attached. As a result of the heel-seat fitting operation, the periphery yof the heel-seat portlon of the sole of the shoe has been beveled as indicated at 12, the bevel extending outwardly only to such a'distance as will permit it to e compoletely covered by the wood heel which is to e attached. Beyond the sole theheel-seat portion of the 'shoe comprises the inturned edge of the counter portion ofa shoe upper indicated at 14. ,A portion 16 of the tread surface of the sole extends rearwardly of the heelbreast line 18, being surrounded, except at its forward end, by the beveled surface 12. Before attaching a wood heel to a shoe having its heel-seat portion fitted as illustrated in` Fig. 3, it is desirable to mold the heel-seat so as to compress it and sha it more nearly to conform -to the attaching surface of a wood heel. This may be done by a die, that of Fig. 5 bein shaped to conform to the attaching face o the heel of Fig. 1 but somewhat exa gerated so as to over-mold the material an compensate for the tendencyl of the heel-seat of the shoe to return part Way toward its original condition after the pressure is removed. The die of Fig. 5 is provided with a at central portion 20 curvin as indicated at 22, toward the rim of the ie which recedes slightly, as shown at 24, from its intersecti'on with the curved portion 22. Such a die should be of a size to cause the intersection of its curved surface 22 with its rim ormar-l ginal portion 24 to engage the heel-seat of the shoe in line with the extreme outer edge of the beveled portion of the heel-seat of the sole. Thus, when pressure is applied, the heel-seat of the shoe will be com ressed and shaped in accordance with the `e. The shoe upper, however, beyond the edge of the heel-seat portion of the sole,- will be engaged over a very narrow area, if at all, and will be left to form an uncompressed cu-shion 32.

When a heel such as that of Fig. 1 is applied to ashoe after this molding operation, its edge will, as shown in Fig. 7, engage with the cushion portion 32 of the shoe upper. Since cpnsiderable pressure is applied as an incident to the heel-attaching operation, the rim 10 of the heel is seated firmly upon and may even be embedded to a certain extent in the cushion 32.

ortion 8- rising abrupt- Y With a heel having an attaching surface of the character here illustrated, the attaching surface of the heel will contact with the heel-seat surface of the sole over substantially its entire area, so that the adhesive used in the heel-attaching operation will have the maximum holding power and will be of maximum assistance to the nails 36 in holding the heel to the shoe. The slight inclination of the rim 10 is helpful in providing a tight edge joint, and the width of that rim tends to prevent damage to the lshoe upper by the edge of the heel as thev shoe -is worn. It should be noted, moreover, that the lrim 10 of the heel is positioned beneath the upwardly extendin portion of the counter of the shoe, and, ecause of its width, provides a good support for the counter. .The large area of contact of the heel-seat por-tion of the sole and the attaching surface of the heel also is of assistance in producin a construction which can be relied upon to old together firmly and maintain a tlght joint th'roughout the life of the shoe.

While the invention has been described herein with reference to wood heels, it should be understood that its utility is not limited thereto since it may be embodied in heels of other material. 4

Having described the invention, what 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Paten-t of the United States is:

1. A wood heel for shoes having a concave attachin face comprising a substantially fiat cen ral portion to correspond t0 the fiat portion of the area ofthe rear end of a sole left after the heel-seat fitting operation has been performed upon it and a portion rising in an abrupt curve from the flat central portion to correspond to the shape given the beveled lperiphery of the rear end of the sole by operation thereon of a heelseat forming die, said attaching face having a horseshoe-shaped peripheral rim of substantial and uniform width adapted to rest upon and substantially to cover the portion of the overlasted upper exposed by the heelseat tting operation upon the rear end of the sole.

2. An integral heel for shoes having a concave attaching face comprising a substantially fiat central portion to correspond' to the flat portion of the area of the rear end of a sole left after the heel-seat fitting operation has been performed upon it and a portion rising in an abrupt curve from the fiat central portion tocorrespond to the shape given the beveled periphery of the rear end of the sole by operation thereon of a heelsea-t forming die, said attaching face having a `horseshoe-shaped peripheral rim of substantial and uniform width, said rim being inclined upwardly and outwardly from the edge of the abruptly curved portion to its outer periphery and being adapted substantially to cover the portion of the overlasted upper exposed by the heel-seat fitting operation performed upon the rear end of sole and to form a tight joint with said upper at 5 the outer periphery of said rim.

. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

RALPH 4 S. MEGATHLIN. 

